Rural interdisciplinary healthcare training in Hawaii: a cross-cultural project.

In 1993, a federally funded project began at the University of Hawaii to educate students from a variety of health professions (nursing, medicine, dental hygiene, psychology, public health, and social work) about the challenges of working as an interdisciplinary team in rural health settings. After nine months of study, this education culminated in students participating in interdisciplinary team projects in rural areas of Hawaii. The development and funding of interdisciplinary rural health projects across the United States reflects the growing awareness that limited resources and access to health in rural areas requires resource sharing, both physical and non-physical. Exposing students to information about rural health care, and then providing hands-on opportunities for teamwork with fellow students in a rural setting, can serve an additional and critical function: to recruit to rural areas healthcare workers who are already aware of the challenges and rewards of this type of practice.